Generally, a garment for use during sports has several functions. Aside from aesthetic aspects, sporting garments should not hinder the performance of an athlete, but on the contrary should support the athlete wherever possible. To this end, several approaches are known in the prior art.
Elastic textile materials using elastic fibers, such as those sold by DuPont under the registered trademark Lycra®, have been used for many different sports to ensure a close contact between the garment and the skin of an athlete. For example, pants or suits for cyclists and track and field athletes can be made from this material, in order to achieve a low air resistance. Furthermore, the pressure exerted by garments made from an elastic fabric increases micro-blood circulation in the muscles and improves proprioception, which can lead to improved performance in an athlete.
In addition, garments may also be used for maintaining the performance of an athlete in specific situations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,708, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a garment having sections of a particularly high elasticity in order to selectively support certain parts of the body, in the same manner as by bandaging with an elastic band (so-called “taping”). This can, for example, help prevent a further spraining in the case of an already sprained ankle or wrist, thus allowing the athlete to continue to perform the sport.
Other approaches to improving athletic performance are directed towards an intensification of resistance during training. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,201,074, 5,875,491, 5,867,827, and 6,047,405, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, disclose garments comprising elastic elements or weights, in order to subject muscles to higher than normal loads when moved. This can be used for training purposes and for rehabilitation after an injury. The disclosed elements are integrated into a suit or pant in such a manner that an additional resistance is created for every movement. U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,074, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, for example, teaches an arrangement of elastic straps in a spiral configuration on all sides around the leg in order to provide the greatest possible amount of resistance in an anatomically correct manner, and to exercise a greater part of the muscles during walking or running. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,875,491 and 5,867,827, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, teach an arrangement of resistance elements in a suit that provides a higher resistance than the underlying base fabric, not only under a stretching movement, but also under a return movement into the original configuration.
Such garments, however, can only indirectly increase the performance of an athlete. The disclosed suits and pants subject the muscles to a particular loading, which is only of benefit in strengthening muscles during training, rather than directly enhancing performance in competition. The present invention, on the contrary, addresses the problem of providing a garment which directly contributes to an increase in the performance of an athlete, such as a sprinter.